Hillside Community Church

Q. and A. with Pastor Rick

Question: Pastor Rick, Is there a difference in being baptized “in,” “with,” or “by” the Holy Spirit?
Answer: No. Although the translators used these 3 English words to describe it, the same Greek word is used in the Biblical texts. It is the word “EN” and can be translated “in,” “with,” or “by.”

Question: Other than the Bible, what book or books have influenced your thinking?
Answer: I cannot express a list in a particular order of importance. However, here are a few books I consider a must read.

Happiness Is A Serious Problem by Dennis Prager: In this book Prager suggests we are obligated to God and humanity to be happy people.

The Joy of Knowing God by Richard L. Strauss: A must read on the attributes of God. I have not read another book as practical and as easy to understand on this significant issue in the Christian’s life.

How to Really Know the Will of God by Richard L. Strauss: This is the most helpful book I have read on the subject.

Honor: A History by James Bowman: Bowman traces honor as evidenced in early civilization records. It is a great book if you are concerned about our deteriorating values.

How Should We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer: This book is the definitive work on the decline of our culture. Schaeffer presents the best alternative to live by; accept God’s revelation (revealed in the Bible) and live by it.

George Washington: The Founding Father by Paul Johnson: Although this book is brief, (in comparison to other biographies, only 144 pages), it is a lively portrayal of the legacy of our first president of the United States.

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis: This book clearly articulates basic principles of the Christian faith.

Talking With My Father: Jesus Teaches on Prayer by Ray Steadman: This book will assist you in taking your prayer life to the next level. I’ll give this a little more thought and revise the list at a later date.

Question: Are you a part of the Evangelical Political Movement?
Answer: No, I’m not. Fundamentally I think Evangelicals are doing what they accused liberal Christians of doing many years ago with their social agenda. Whenever I hear Christians say, “We have to save America” I nearly cringe. Our Biblical mandate is not to save America, it is to save sinners! If, as Christians, we spent as much time and energy winning souls as we spend on social engineering, in my opinion, it would be time better spent. I am not as interested in enlisting Democrats or Republicans as I am in enlisting people into the body of Christ. Having said that, since we live in a nation that gives us the opportunity to express our will with our vote (without the threat of death), please take advantage of that and vote. A Pauline principle is well advised here: Be fully persuaded in your mind (Romans 14:5) and vote accordingly.

Question: What is your opinion of the Prayer of Jabez?
Answer: I think I am for any book, sermon, song, or anything that will inspire people to pray. In my mind, prayer is the most neglected Christian activity. But I am concerned with some comments in the book. For example on page 7 Wilkinson states, “I want to teach you how to pray a daring prayer that God always answers.” ALWAYS ANSWERS? I would be careful to remind you that God is sovereign. A simple definition of sovereign (I learned from Dr. Richard Strauss) is: He is the highest and best and does whatever He pleases in heaven and earth. And while I believe God hears our prayers and expects us to pray, to suggest that He will always answer the one who prayed that particular prayer is simply an exaggeration.

Question: Why do Christians worship on Sunday?
Answer: Sunday was the day Jesus rose from the grave. The earliest believers started gathering to celebrate that day. The church was born out of the Resurrection (Sunday) not the day of rest (Sabbath or Saturday.) For the Christian, Sunday is more than a “day of rest,” it is a “remembrance.” And please don’t let this statement bother you, but as a Christian, it is simply the traditional day. There is nothing I am aware of that makes Sunday a sacred day. It’s simply the day established to reflect the Resurrection of Jesus.

Question: Where does it say in the Bible that God helps those who help themselves?
Answer: It doesn’t. That maxim is not in the Bible. By the way, neither is Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

Question: What are the seven-fold Spirits of God in Revelation?
Answer: I think the verse you are referring to is Rev. 3:1 - He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. You won’t find the answer in Revelation, so that may be why it is confusing. I think the answer is in Isaiah 11. Look at verse 2: The Spirit of... the Lord, wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, fear of the Lord.

Question: Was Jesus a carpenter?
Answer: I can’t really answer that. I don’t even know if Joseph was a carpenter! The Bible reference you may be thinking of is Mt. 13:55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” Now the difficulty here is the Greek word tekton. It simply means a craftsman. By the way, any craftsman. It could be craftsman of wood or brick or glass, anything. It is tradition that has made Him as a carpenter and that is OK by me. I like the sound of carpenter. Can you imagine a book titled MORE THAN A MASON?

Question: Can a Christian play LOTTO?
Answer: Of course he CAN, but SHOULD he is another thing. My typical answer is, “No you should not. But if you win make sure you give your money to Hillside Community Church!” But seriously, I don’t see gambling as a serious way to be a good steward.

Question: Someone told me that the Bible says Christ was the first to be created. Is that in the Bible?
Answer: That probably came from a Jehovah’s Witness or someone that follows the Arian heresy. Let me see if I can make this short. The reference in question is Colossians 1:15 - He is the image of the invisible God, the “firstborn of all creation.”

Firstborn (from the Greek prototokos) doesn’t mean in chronology but in preeminence. In other words, it’s not a matter of being the first, it is a matter of being the highest. The best way to picture this is from the Old Testament. In Psalm 89:27 God said He would make David his firstborn. And then He explained what that means, “The highest of the kings of the earth.” David was not the first king in the world. He wasn’t even the first king in Israel. But God would make him the firstborn, the highest of kings to exist.

So with that understanding, and going back to Colossians 1:15, Jesus is not the first to be born of creation, He is preeminent over creation.

Question: Can you tell me the basic belief of Islam? I hear so much arguing about it being a religion of peace.
Answer: There is a good website to get the fundamentals of Islam from Muslims, themselves. It is www.islamreligion.com

Every Islamist believes in (what I would call) 6 articles of faith and the 5 pillars.

Here are the 6 articles of faith. All Muslims believe:

1. In Allah alone as the true deity. And, according to Islam, Allah is the god of all humanity (not the God of the Old Testament or Christianity, but god of all.) Allah is not male or female and is not trinity.
2. In the messengers and prophets of Allah. There are many, perhaps thousands. Jesus was one sent by Allah, but Mohammed was the greatest of them all.
3. In the Koran. They do recognize other sacred literature but only the Koran is “every word pure.”
4. In the Angels of Allah. These angels are greater than man but inferior to Allah.
5. In a day of judgment. Interestingly, every Muslim’s destiny is subject to the will of Allah.
6. In Qadar. This is Allah’s determinism of all things. Everything that happens, both good and evil, comes directly from Allah’s hands.

Here are the 5 Pillars. All Muslims believe:

1. In their duty to recite the Shahadah. “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of god.”
2. In their duty to pray 5 times daily.
3. In Zakat. This is the Muslim duty of charity.
4. In their duty to fast for a month. This is Ramadan.
5. In hajj. This is a duty to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least one time in his life.

Islam, contrary to popular opinion, is irreconcilably opposed to Christianity. Islam rejects the deity of Christ, His substitutionary death on a cross, and His resurrection.

Christians believe they can KNOW they are saved. A muslim would never admit that he can know if he is saved. That can only be determined by Allah. However, it’s interesting that although a Muslim cannot know if he is saved, he believes that in the end, only Muslims can be saved.